As a 6’5” African-American humanist, atheist, Unitarian male, I have spent much of my life defying stereotypes. This boldness came out of a lot of privilege in that I was raised by a liberal grandmother with whom I traveled to many countries in order to expose me to many different people from…

Trans* persons navigate loss, change, and transitions with grace and beauty. Trans* persons of color do it with fierceness, passion, and soul. Our theology teaches us to persist in spite of one’s pain, to love those who hate us, and to continue fighting though we are exhausted.

I almost believed that the presence of queer, Black folks in movies like Moonlight meant that a call for representation in Black Panther was excessive—how could queer folks be selfish enough to want to be represented in movies that aren’t particularly about wrestling with gender identity or sexual orientation?

February 7, 2018 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. #NBHAAD was founded in 1999 as a national response to the growing HIV and AIDS epidemic in African American communities….

“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. Ours is no caravan of despair. Come, yet again, come”. These famous words of the prophet Jalal al-Din Rumi, – may he be forever remembered, often ring throughout our Unitarian Universalist congregations on any given Sunday morning welcoming the stranger and providing comfort to those present. And with good reason.

On this World AIDS Day, as Unitarian Universalists we reaffirm our belief in “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” We reaffirm our commitment to remember the 35 million lives to HIV and AIDS. We reaffirm our commitment to celebrate the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. We reaffirm our commitment to build a world of zero new HIV and AIDS infections by 2030. May it be so!

We hold within each of us, the spark of the divine, the love of the divine, the image of the divine.

We honor our ancestors by keeping their stories alive within us we also honor the ancestors by being resilient.

I yearn for a time when instead of memorializing transgender and genderqueer individuals who have been killed for living their lives authentically, we will take time to celebrate the gifts these individuals offer our communities. Until then I will attend the vigils, not only to remember the lives lost but also to offer to the transgender communities a supportive religious voice.

“As a Welcoming Congregation, the Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship invites everyone to share in our faith community. We cherish diversity and foster a safe environment for all.” — PUUF Statement of Inclusion